by K E Osborn
I glance up to Mylee. Her eyes are closed, and I wonder if she’s deteriorating or if she’s just resting. I really hope it’s the later. Pain fills in my chest, but I turn walking around to the front of the ambulance and hobble in. Havier’s sitting in the driver’s seat punching some shit or other into some machine. I close my door, turning back to look at Mylee as Michelle takes her blood pressure, working on her silently.
“Hey man, can we get there quick? She was complaining about her stomach. I’m not a doctor, I don’t know anything about medical shit, but I’m worried about internal injuries,” I ask Havier quietly.
He jumps out of the seat, rushing to the back of the van. He leans in whispering something to Michelle, probably so he doesn’t startle Mylee. Michelle nods, then Havier closes the back of the ambulance racing back to the front, jumping in and starts the engine.
I take a deep breath as Michelle starts to talk to Mylee asking her what the pain level is in her stomach. I crack my neck to the side hoping like hell I’m fucking wrong about this being worse than it looks.
TRAX
The ride to Northwestern didn’t take too long. Then the admittance seemed to take merely a flash. Kline was alerted to our arrival, so she must have arranged priority. Thank you, Bex!
So right now Mylee and I are in a bay in the emergency ward. Mylee’s on the bed, her face pale as she lies quietly. I’m beside her holding her hand with my good arm, the other I’m favoring, trying not to let on that it’s hurting like a bitch. But honestly, I think I’ve just pulled the muscles in my shoulder, nothing too bad. It’s definitely not dislocated or anything.
The curtain slides back, and Kline rushes in. Her blonde hair pulled back in a high bun, her slim face with a thin layer of makeup making her already pretty features stand out even more. She smiles at me then she pulls the curtain closed behind her letting out a heavy sigh.
“You totaled your ride, Trax? How will you live without your baby?”
I chuckle as she walks over placing her hand on my bad shoulder making me wince slightly. She notices straight away frowning. I look straight at Mylee. “I can get another bike, Bex. What I can’t get is another Mylee. So make sure to fix her real good, yeah?”
She smiles as Mylee sighs. “I’m fine, honestly, so much fuss over nothing.”
Kline instantly looks at Mylee’s leg. “Well, that’s a lot of blood pooling on the bandage, Mylee. I’m going to have to have a closer look. But when I’m done with Mylee, I’m going to check you out, Trax. No arguments.”
I groan knowing I won’t win with Kline, she’s one of the most stubborn women I’ve ever met. “Fine.”
She shoves me out of the way without a second thought. She’s never been one to care about bossing bikers around. “Okay, so I’m going to check your leg for starters then I’m going to run a few tests, check for concussion, then examine your stomach, okay?” Kline asks.
I step back right out of the way. I don’t want to interfere with anything as Mylee simply nods. The pain in her eyes evident.
I promised her nothing would happen today. I promised her the perfect damn day, now here she is in a hospital bed being poked and prodded. I just hope it’s nothing more than a simple gash on her leg and we’ll be home in a couple hours.
Kline goes about taking her temperature, her blood pressure, pressing on her tummy, then tending to the wound on her leg, and ending it all with a blood test. I say nothing, just sit back wincing when Mylee jolts in obvious pain, but I don’t do anything to stop Kline from her work.
She’s the best.
I know it.
I glance up as the curtain slides slightly to see Torque and Sensei standing in the entrance. I tip my chin to them as Kline continues to work with Mylee, so I look to Mylee. She glances at the curtain and smiles with a nod, letting me know it’s okay for me to fill them in.
Standing up, I walk, more like drag my feet to them. They nod in unison as I slump past the curtain out into the main area with them away from Mylee.
Torque rolls his neck. “Jesus Christ, Trax. Way to scare me half to fuckin’ death.”
I smirk, slapping his shoulder. “Fuck, brother, anyone would think you cared about me saying shit like that.”
“I’m not even going to joke around, Trax. You and Mylee… coulda died. By the look of you, you hit the deck damn hard. I’m not gonna fuck about and pretend this isn’t a big fuckin’ deal.”
We’ve had some tough times over the last two years, but through it all, we’re still blood. Even though I’ve been a dick, somehow he still cares. I don’t know why.
“Yeah… it was damn scary. All I can say is luckily it was low speed. After the first car pulled in front of me, I was able to slow the bike enough not to make this turn out a whole shitload differently. I’m still not sure something isn’t up with Mylee, though, but Bex is on it. Me, I’m fine, big bro, just a sore shoulder. I remembered to go limp.”
“Stop, drop, and roll is not just wise for fire… as it were,” Sensei adds, and I chuckle.
“Yeah man, exactly. Just let my body go floppy and hang on for the damn ride.”
“Glad you both came out relatively unscathed as it seems for the most part anyway. We will wait to see how Mylee is doing, but for now… I’m fucking pleased you are both breathing at least,” Sensei offers.
“Hmm, yeah, I think if the car had hit us any harder, we would have been toast. I’m just glad he clipped the tire and didn’t ram us completely. If he’d gone straight into the back of Mylee…” A shudder runs through me as I swallow a lump in my throat not able to finish my sentence.
“She’ll be fine. You both will be. At least it was just an accident… nothing malicious… not Everett related is what I’m saying,” Torque adds.
“I have to admit, at the time, it’s all I was thinking. But once the cops explained, I knew it was simply wrong place, wrong time.”
“Chains and Vibe are bringing your ride back to the graveyard. We’ll look into getting you another bike tomorrow. But for tonight, you be here with Mylee,” Torque tells me, and I nod—like there was any other option. Torque looks me up and down shaking his head. “Sure you’re fuckin’ okay? You look like shit.”
I roll my shoulder, cracking my neck to the side. “I’m fine. Just hurt my shoulder. Nothing too serious. A few cuts and scrapes, nothing like Mylee. I’m concerned about her stomach. I know Kline was prodding and poking around. She’s running bloods, but I have no idea what she’s thinking. She’s not giving any-fucking-thing away.”
Torque exhales reaching out grabbing my good shoulder. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
“Thanks, brother. Right now I need to get back to my woman.”
Sensei and Torque both nod as I turn, moving back toward Mylee’s bay. I slide back the curtain to see Kline finishing up with Mylee as she grabs the blood tests. “I’m just going to take these to the lab, but then I’m coming back to look you over.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, yeah.”
She walks out as I make my way over to the edge of Mylee’s bed. I look down at her then take a seat, running my fingers gently over her arm.
Her lips turn up but only slightly, looking at me sleepily.
“You doing okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, Dr. Kline gave me something for the nausea and pain. I’m feeling quite lovely right now actually.”
I chuckle leaning in kissing her forehead as I rub her tummy. “You good in here?”
She shrugs. “Not sure. She’s doing some blood work to make sure everything’s okay. When she pressed on it, she seemed to think nothing was ruptured or that there’s anything too nasty going on, so that’s got to be a good thing. Probably just winded.”
“That’s great. Now you lay back and rest, I’m not moving from here.”
She looks up to me gently stroking my arm. “How’s your shoulder? You were favoring it. I know it’s hurting.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it?”
She shrugs.
“Nope, nothing. Now stop avoiding it and tell me you’re okay.”
I lean in kissing her head as she melts into me. “I’m fine. I’m pretty sure it’s just a strain and some scratches, you’re the one who really got hurt in this.” My mind’s racing through how I’m going to tell Crest what happened. “Your dad’s gonna annihilate me.”
Mylee chuckles with a grimace. “Guess he’s not going to be happy, but I’ll make the phone call once we know everything. It’ll be better coming from me, and he knows how much you love me, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
I tense up. As much as I want to be a man and tell Crest myself, Mylee knows her father better than me, even though I feel like I know him well enough. If she feels it’s better coming from her, then I need to respect her wishes. I don’t want to be on Crest’s bad side, but I also don’t want to get on my woman’s bad side either. Especially not when I want to convince Crest to let Mylee stay with me.
Now with her being injured, I’ve made everything a shit ton harder.
Kline came back in and looked me over like she said she would. She fucked about with my shoulder making it even worse, but told me it was a sprain after I had an X-ray taken, and that it will heal on its own. She patched up my cuts and scratches even though I complained the entire time, much to Mylee’s amusement.
As Kline puts the last butterfly stitch on my arm, she leans in gently slapping my chest. “Good boy, see wasn’t so hard, was it?” she mocks.
I let out a loud huff. “I thought the guys said your bedside manner was excellent. I think you’re quite rough actually,” I tease. She leans out flicking my recently bandaged wound. “Oww, woman!”
Mylee giggles behind us as Bex stifles her own laugh, standing up from her rolling stool as she pulls off her rubber gloves with a swift snap. “It’s not too late to fake your death Mylee and run. I can help you with that,” Kline mocks making Mylee burst out laughing.
“You’re lucky you’re club family, Kline, or I swear…” I look at her with my lopsided smile as she grins.
“Yeah, I know, I push my luck with you guys. Chains grills me for it all the time, the big lug.”
She starts to walk out, but I grab her hand halting her exit making her turn back to look at me. “How are Mylee’s tests coming along?”
“I’ll put a rush on them, I should know in a couple more hours. I’ll make it as quick as I can, okay?”
I let her go as she walks out of the room.
Torque and Sensei step in.
“We’re gonna head out. I need to talk more to Cindi about…” He tilts his head, but I know what he means. “But if you need us, let me know.”
“Thanks, I’m grateful you came.”
“Anytime, but there’s some other people here to see you, too.”
I raise my brow wondering who the fuck’s here. “Who?”
“Brodie and Grier,” Sensei replies.
“As in Brodie and Grier the cops that helped us out with the Yakuza?” I ask.
“Yeah, fucking small world. They’re the cops assigned to take your statement. We’ve just had a catch-up. Told ‘em what you told us, but they need it from you… obviously.”
“Yeah,” I glance back to Mylee to see her sleeping soundly. “I’ll head out to talk to them. Let her rest. Might see if they have any ideas about what we can do about this Everett problem we seem to have while I’m at it.”
MYLEE
Trax and I are sitting in the emergency room, my bay seems to be one of the larger ones, and I can’t help but feel lucky in this situation. The club knows Rebecca Kline, one of the head doctors here, so my treatment has been exceptional. I can’t complain. Even though I hurt all over and I’m beyond tired, I still feel a sense of love and warmth from the Defiance MC. Knowing Torque and Sensei came to check in not only on Trax but me too, makes me feel like I’m a part of their family, even if I’ve only been here for six weeks. I love this club, I love the people, and I have to admit the idea of staying here is kind of the only thing on my mind right now.
Trax sits on the edge of my bed looking down at me as he gently strokes my arm. The adoration in his eyes is insurmountable as I stare back knowing exactly how he’s feeling. We could have lost it all today, in the blink of a damn eye. One or both of us could have died, or been severely injured. I guess we need to be thankful we came out with nothing more than a few deep scratches.
Trax opens his mouth to say something as the curtain slides back, and Kline walks in making him stop as a pensive look crosses her face.
“Mylee, your blood work showed some results. So I’ve run some further testing just to confirm.” She looks to Trax, then back to me making my tensions raise a little higher. “Mylee, are you okay for Trax to be in here when I tell you what’s going on?”
Trax suddenly stands from the edge of the bed, obviously feeling the tension like I am as he looks to Kline shaking his head. He turns reaching out for my hand as I sit up a little taller.
Suddenly I feel like something’s really wrong. I grab Trax’s hand tight, mine shaking in his feeling scared. “Yes, I don’t want him anywhere, but here.”
Kline takes a step forward with a kind smile. “Mylee, the issues in your stomach, the tightness, the nausea, I ran a range of tests. The results turned back an above normal marker for the HCG hormone in your blood.”
“English, Bex,” Trax blurts out.
Kline takes a deep breath looking to Trax, then back to me, placing her folder to her side. “Mylee… you’re pregnant.”
Trax sharply inhales.
Instantly, I feel like my mind’s starting to fog over, thunderous storm clouds are rolling over my head as I clutch my hand to my chest finding it harder to breathe. The world’s caving in on me, and the room feels like the walls are seeping blackness. I shake my head back and forth in denial.
I never wanted this.
I never wanted kids.
I know bipolar disorder’s genetic even if the professionals don’t all agree that it is.
My mother passed it on to me. I vowed never to have children, so I wouldn’t pass it on to them. And now, I’m… pregnant?
This can’t be happening!
I burst into a torrent of tears as my body reacts before I can. The thunder clouds have swarmed in, and I’m not in control as my brain is swamped with a myriad of emotions. I throw my legs over the edge of the bed, trying to stand up.
I need to go.
I need to run.
But I’m so nauseous.
I stumble feeling dizzy.
I can’t breathe. Oh God, I can’t breathe.
“Mylee,” Trax murmurs, but I can hardly hear him through the ringing in my ears. The thought there’s a baby inside of my stomach right now, and I’ve doomed it to a life of living with this torment seeps into my veins. Guilt overwhelms me as panic sets in. I can’t do this. I can’t let another person go through this. Feel how I’m feeling right now—the pain, the anguish, the storm.
Oh God, the storm.
The feeling of arms wrapping around me does nothing to soothe me as I scream, attempting to thrust my hands out to the side.
“Babe, stop! Take a breath,” Trax calls out, but I can’t see, my eyes too clouded from the tears.
The force makes Trax break away as I thrash about, and I groan so loud my throat hurts. The storm is invading fiercely, so fast it’s all I can see, everything’s black. I want to turn back to find Trax, he’s my light, my home, but my head’s so muddled I can’t think straight. Everything’s a blur—my eyes, my thoughts. I spin, trying to search, trying to find my way through the fog. My hands rushing to my hair, pulling, sobbing, stumbling. But I can’t find my way, I’ve lost myself once more.
Arms wrap around me again, this time they hold me tight, locking me in a death grip as I try to fight against them.
I feel a sharp prick in my arm.
I let out a sob knowing exactly what it means—they’re knocking me out. It’s come to this, I’m that far gone. I’m
back to that girl.
My muscles give way to the pain, not only in my body but also in my heart and mind.
I can’t cope—not with this.
I’ve been doing so well, handling my disorder, it’s been under control, but right now I’m slipping, deeper and deeper as my mind can’t cope. Trax’s hands move around my legs, lifting me into his lap. I fall, my body limp with no energy left to spare.
I simply let him move me as I slowly feel the storm winning.
Darkness is taking hold of me yet again.
TRAX
She wasn’t coming out of it like normal, no matter what I did I couldn’t seem to bring her out of it. I turned to Kline while Mylee pulled on her hair, sobbing, stumbling around the room in a daze.
“Kline will you fucking do something?”
She turned to me bringing a needle up into my line of vision. “I plan to. You just have to hold her for me.”
My chest started heaving. “You’re gonna sedate her? What about the fucking baby?”
Kline marched up to me, a sad look in her eyes. “Trax, right now, Mylee and the baby are under a hell of a lot of strain, the best thing for them is to be sleeping.”
I groaned looking back to Mylee hunched over. “Fuck!” I rushed over to Mylee, grabbing her from behind, my arms wrapped around her. She thrashed in my grip, my heart leaped into my throat as I death gripped her.
I shook my head. It didn’t feel right. Everything in me didn’t want to do it. Knocking her out seemed severe, but Mylee was so out of it she was a harm to herself and our baby.
“Fuuuck!” I groaned as Kline moved in with the needle, her kind eyes looked to me sympathetically as she placed the injection into Mylee’s arm.
Mylee’s sobs sent a cold shiver through me, clenching my eyes tight feeling like at any second I might fucking break myself. Mylee’s body loosened, and she collapsed in my arms.
“Are you okay?” Kline asked.
“No,” I simply replied as Mylee’s limp body let me know she was fading off to sleep.
